LEWISBURG, Pa. – After earning First and Second Team All-Patriot League honors a season ago, Bucknell seniors Connor Van Hoose and Luke Johnson were named to the Preseason All-Patriot League Baseball Team, released by the conference office on Thursday. Van Hoose was also selected as the PL Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Each makes his first appearance on the 12-player preseason squad, which was decided by a vote of the league’s head coaches and sports information directors.

The preseason poll was also released, and the Bison finished in first with 43 points and six first-place votes. Navy was chosen second with 38 points and four first-place votes. Holy Cross, the reigning Patriot League Champion, was picked third with 29 points and two first-place tallies. Rounding out the six-team ballot were Lehigh (27), Army West Point (25) and Lafayette (18).

Van Hoose enjoyed a strong junior campaign, appearing in 12 games, all starts, going 6-6 with a league-leading 2.28 ERA over 83 IP. He also led the league with 97 strikeouts and held opposing hitters to a league-best .218 batting average. Van Hoose performed at his best when facing Patriot League competition, going 3-2 with an impressive 1.87 earned run average and 41 strikeouts. He allowed just two runs over 16.1 innings pitched in the Patriot League Tournament and had quite the outing against Navy in game one of the PL Semifinal series. Van Hoose tossed his fourth complete game of the year, throwing nine strong innings, and allowing just one run on three hits, while striking out six. He followed it up with another strong performance in the PL Championship series tossing 7.1 innings and striking out seven. In addition to his All-Patriot League First Team Selection last year, he also received ABCA/ Rawlings Second Team All-East Region honors.

Johnson has been a driving force for Bucknell since his arrival to Lewisburg. He started in 46 of the 52 games last season, and hit .282 with three home runs, 27 RBIs, and 24 runs scored. He finished tied for 23rd in the PL in batting average, and fifth in assists with 112.

The Bison open the 2018 season with a three-game set with Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, beginning next Friday, Feb. 16.